Month: June 2012 (Page 1 of 2)

Pajama Game is finally done. We had a good run, although not a single standing ovation. But Nancy Dutmer was not in it, so it wasn’t as good as the shows she is in. But it was cute.

So now I am going to get down to business with my Wildtree and personal training ventures. Gotta make more money to pay off the debt and be able to have a new place. Dad wants to pay off the mortgage on at least one rental before we do anything.

It appears that our supposed renters abandoned us without a word, so I put 126 North street on Craig’s List late Thursday afternoon. We got 3 calls that night and are showing them the house today. Then there were 4 more when I got home from work yesterday, so I removed our listing and called those people back to let them know they were on the 2nd tier just in case none of the first three works out. And I’ve had about 3 calls since that I told I was pretty sure it was going to be rented by the time we get through the first 7 people. Craig’s List is pretty effective for rentals. Cheap rentals, anyway!

To me it seems strange to complain about the heat when it is in the 80’s and it is a week before the 4th of July. Isn’t it supposed to be that hot this time of year? I don’t think some people are happy if they can’t complain about the weather. From my seat at the front desk of the senior center, I hear way too much complaining about the weather…Get’s tiring. Some days I want to yell at them. But I don’t. I’m just glad that my life is interesting enough that I have better things to complain about!

Nothing to complain about today, though. Unless it is the fact that my 1/2 of a house is getting way too full of stuff. At least it is hard to store stuff in the kitchen, because then you couldn’t open the cupboards, fridge, oven, etc. So that is my sanctuary. And the only place in the house that there is room to do anything.

But, on the good side, we almost have 126 empty. It is doubtful that we actually have renters moving in this weekend, although they told us about 3 weeks ago that they were. But they haven’t returned our calls since then and never actually returned the rental agreement although they did turn in their application. Confusing. I think I’m going to go ahead and re list it on Craigs List. I really want renters in there in July. Particularly since Toccoa has been rather expensive to rent, what with plumbing problems that won’t quit. We’ll be able to pay for them without touching our emergency fund, but it will slow our debt payoff. I will be glad to finally have those two houses rented, but operating rentals isn’t without it’s down side!

Only three more performances of Pajama Game. In all honesty, I really enjoy playing the show. I just dread the drive up and home, particularly home, when I am so sleepy. And all that gas has pretty much used up anything I’ve made in the process. I think this is going to be my last Red Barn show. We just live too far away now. I could drive to Chippewa Falls just as easily.

We picked up Ethan, Audrey and Isaac on Wednesday afternoon and things have been a busy blur since then. They went to work with me in the mornings on Thursday and Friday, then we came home for some quiet time/naps before we headed outside to play until later in the afternoon. I had to go to the play in the evening, so Grampa was in charge from supper time on.

Today we did a bit of cleaning and organizing before Nathan and Amy arrived a bit before 11. The kids were glad to see them, especially their Dad whom they hadn’t seen for  2 weeks! Dad wanted to used the extra help to move the grand piano across the street, so we did that and now some of them are moving lumber from the neighbor’s house (we bought it from them when they moved) and others are down playing at the school playground, so I have a little time to sit and relax. I just started supper, so that is my real excuse!

Another show performance tonight and then tomorrow I finally get a night off. I’m so excited to be able to crawl into bed at about 9:00 and listen to “Old Time Radio” until I fall asleep. Every night I have a show, I get to bed at just about exactly 11:00, which is a good hour later than I would normally go to bed. So it is beginning to wear me down. Just have to last through next Friday evening.  Then the real summer vacation will begin!

Weird weather lately, but today is definitely a summer day. I could go for a little less summer, actually. I like the 70’s, thank you. 89 is too much. But at least I don’t have to put on a costume at the Red Barn tonight, or be under the hot lights. I knew there was something better about being in the pit rather than on stage. That and getting paid!

Speaking of which – tonight is the last rehearsal – the show opens tomorrow. Are we ready? Let’s just say that tonight had better be a lot better than last night. If I do say, though, my part isn’t too bad. I have to practice the pieces in 6 flats and 5 sharps a bit more this afternoon, but other that that, everything is good. Why 6 flats? That is my question.

My gardens, small though they are, are looking quite good. I have a couple vining things – pumpkins and maybe a squash plant or watermelon. The beans came up really well this year and the rabbits have left them alone so far. I planted bachelor buttons and cosmos mixed together and a good number of them have sprouted. I think it will make a pleasant mix to look at. All my perrenial flowers are doing well again, too. So many blooms!

Happy Fathers’ Day to all you dads – Nathan, Tim, and Luke, and Don! May your children and your wives make you feel very special today!

Its been raining pretty much all day today. Gotta have some rainy days, I guess. But it makes it hard to do a lot of outside work and I don’t have much of an “inside” to do anything, what with the upstairs off limits now. I feel like baking, but I don’t know what to do. Its only a few hours until time to leave for play practice, though.

We did the first act last night and it actually went pretty well. Lines are still a problem in some places, but the lines are quite confusing sometimes, so I can see why they are having trouble. Tonight is the second act. Counting today we have 5 more rehearsals before the first performance next Tuesday. Half the pit band can only be here yesterday and today, then not until opening night, which is a bit of a concern, but I’m sure it will be okay.

Everyone else seems too busy to post, so I’ll keep putting posts on so everyone else has something to read. Not that my life is all that exciting. And I don’t have any pictures.

Today is just dialogue at play practice (Act 1 last night and Act 2 tonight), so this is an off night for me. But then, starting tomorrow, I have 11 nights before my next break on Sunday, June 24th. So I’m resting up for the long haul! My keyboard is up at the Barn now and my piano is in a definite “dust” zone, so I’m not practicing today, either. I did quite a lot of outside work – mowing the neighbor’s front yard (their house is for sale and they moved), weeding my flower beds and picking strawberries. Dad is late because he has some sort of a meeting at the youth center. Not a youth center meeting, but some other group that uses the youth center for their programming. So its just me and Sherlock! We just finished some very delicious chili while watching a video. Dad picked up a set of a show called “Bramwell” on video cassette, so I’ve been enjoying those episodes. I’m over half done, though. There are 8 episodes on 4 tapes. They are set in Victorian London and are about a woman doctor who sets up a clinic in the poor part of town, but still lives with her father, who is a private practice doctor to the wealthy. Makes for interesting stories!

We are almost finished with the remodel of the bathroom over at126. Dad tore out the old wall boards and the flooring and we’ve been putting in new wallboards and a new tub surround and have the new flooring flattening so we can put that in tonight. Then we will put the new vanity back, and put in a new toilet. Then we are going to put the island from the kitchen in there along the south wall as a storage unit, but with a slightly smaller top. And we are going to hang the upper cabinets that are just inside the door of the laundry room. That will give the room plenty of storage, but with a nice fresh look. Can’t wait til it is done!

And I made home-made bread last night. It was (is) delicious! Haven’t made that in a long time. I don’t know why, because it is so easy. Probably because I eat too much of it!

After a 5 hour play practice on Thursday, Saturday’s 2 1/2 hours seemed short. And it left the major part of the day to get things done. I’d also done quite a lot on Friday afternoon – mowing, laundry, etc. so that by now (Sunday afternoon) it feels like I’m caught up on everything. I have play practice in about an hour (3:00 – 5:30 today) and the keyboard is loaded in the car ready to go. Today is our first day in the barn (as opposed to in the shed), so I brought my own keyboard. I was just going to use the music director’s, but it isn’t touch sensitive and I have an awful time playing on it. So my poor old keyboard gets another trip to The Red Barn.

We had a fella stop by yesterday to look at 126 to possibly buy it. He has other rentals and would use it as a rental. We told him we could probably sell it to him already rented, since we have a renter we think we are going to rent it to. Dad just has to check his references and make the arrangements. We have to keep it vacant until the Fritz grandkids are here in a couple weeks, because we don’t have enough “dust-free” space for them to sleep at 117. We just keep the one bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room spotless and dust-free. (I just finished a complete cleaning again today.)

Hope everyone is surviving the heat. It is “down south” hot up here today!

Yesterday’s trip went well. A couple glitches on the money end of it, but we got it all worked out. Turned out the person I arranged the meal with had left and someone else took over his clients and they didn’t get a copy of exactly what he sent me in an email, so they didn’t know we were supposed to get a choice of beverages that included pop or milk or that we were supposed to get a “chef’s choice” dessert or that we were supposed to be charged for the number I called in Tuesday, but the manager was nice and we got it fixed to my satisfaction, although we didn’t get a dessert.

Then when we got to Glensheen mansion, they had not received my check for the deposit – $105, so I paid the whole amount and they will send the $105 back to me when it comes. So that should be fine. They seemed honest.

But the weather was great and everyone who went kept saying how much they were enjoying it and what a good job I’d done putting it together. So I was pleased!

Then I sped over to the Red Barn to rehearse there until 9:00 before heading home, finally. Exhausting day!

I can’t think of any interesting titles lately. And it is Tuesday..

It is our 36th wedding anniversary. I’m very happy we made it this far. I was talking to someone who was widowed and she said she’d only had 28 years with her husband. At the time he died, I thought they had been married a long time because we’d only been married like 10 or 12 years. But now I realize it wasn’t all that long. Sad.

We aren’t doing anything to celebrate, although Dad got me a couple gift cards and some chocolate covered peanut/caramel things. Very tasty, I’m sure, but I haven’t tried one yet. Trying to be sort of good on my diet.  I have a community center board meeting at 5:00 and a middle school concert at 7:00. Dad has to work late giving TB skin tests to hospital volunteers, so we are going to meet after the concert and go to Dairy Queen for dessert.

Tomorrow is our trip with the senior citizens to the Superior/Duluth area. There are 25 of us going. We’ll go to a museum, to a fancy place for lunch, then to the Glensheen Mansion for a tour. I’m looking forward to seeing it again. Plus we’ll do a little shopping before we head home. I’m following the bus to Rice Lake in the a.m., then leaving my car with those of the people we are picking up in Rice Lake, so I can get off the bus there on the return trip and head right to the Red Barn for practice. That way I won’t be quite as late as if I went all the way to Chetek and back. So tomorrow is quite a full day. Thursday is, as well, with a lot of extra Red Barn stuff, so I’ll drive to work then head right to Rice Lake after I’m done in Chetek. So Friday is the next day I’ll get anything done here at home. But it can all wait!